Break and Mend
by stuckatschool
Summary: Five times Emery Whitehill has her heart broken, and the one time it is mended.


_**I hate Netflix for recommending this to me, not telling me it only has one season. But I love this couple so very much.**_

* * *

 _ **1\. Firsts**_

When you are six years old with a life threatening disease, life is not very exciting.

Everything became a routine. Get up, and then take your medicine. Eat breakfast. More medicine. School, dinner and the final pills before bedtime.

For as long as she could remember, Emery was told by everyone that she was special, but when everyday was the same and every person looked at you like they expected you to disappear at a moments notice, special was the last thing she felt like.

More like different. Strange. An outsider in her own world.

So when the ship crashed, when her boring world was shaken by this new presence, right in her backyard, it finally felt like something special might actually happen.

That special thing came, at first, in the form of a shuddering shed door in the night.

Her parents were always concerned that her curiosity would get her in trouble, but it wouldn't be the first time a scared animal crawled into the shed looking for shelter.

If she couldn't live a healthy life, the least she could do is help other creature try to.

Of course, she had expected to see the snarl of a feral cat or the glowing irises of a raccoon. Not the wide blue eyes of a little boy, trembling and scared.

No older than her, he was alone and cold.

She did everything she could to make him comfortable, treating him every bit the scared creature she had expected to find.

It took a little time fore her to really see the marks on his face, but once she did, she knew.

" You are one of them" she tiny voice whispered, a shared secret between children.

Staying as long as she dared, she made sure he was okay, unharmed and safe, before returning to her room.

No sleep found her that night, constantly looking out the window to make sure he didn't leave and no one looked for him.

The next day, she discovered a few new things about her friend.

1) He like cold spaghetti, just like her

2) He didn't understand English

3) He was _not_ a monster.

Although quiet, he seemed to like her as much as she liked him. It did not take long for him to move close, sharing her body warmth as she taught him new tricks with her string and telling funny stories with a smile.

Looking back, anyone could see the beginnings of puppy love, of two innocent souls seeking comfort in the other. She was too young to truly understand such a complex feeling of love, but her tiny heart fluttered at his first smile and all she could think about was being around him for as long as possible.

That is why, when the soldiers came, when he stepped up to protect her, a human girl he had known for less than a day, from the attack and died right next to her, her childish heart felt as if it had fragmented into a million tiny pieces and she cried for the pain that seemed to consume her.

It was her first heartbreak, and despite growing and moving on, putting herself back together again, it was the one that she could never fix.

* * *

 _ **2\. Lost before Found**_

After the boy in the shed, whose name she never knew and face she would never forget; Emery did not want to get close to anyone again. If one boy who she had barely known could cause so much damage in so short of time, what would happen is she actually took the time to know people. She became lonely, but the pain of loneliness was preferable to the pain of loss.

So, when, a few days after her 9th birthday, Nick Merino gave her a heart shaped sucker and a valentine with her name spelled wrong, she did not know what to do.

Emery had never spoken to him, only given a few smiles out of politeness and because, even as a child, it wasn't in her nature to be cruel or cold.

Apparently, however, a small smile across the playground was all it took to gain the heart of the shy, curly haired boy. He looked at her, waiting for a response.

" Thank you.," she said quickly, gently unwrapping her sucker and staring at him.

Nick looked surprise, then beamed at her, before turning around, disappearing back into the classroom crowd.

The next day, she arrived into class, all the boys made kissing faces her way, and the girls whispered and giggled when she passed by.

It was finally a small girl, with black hair and gentle eyes that finally explained the other's behavior.

" Nick says you are his girlfriend."

" Oh." she responded, confused. Well, she was a girl. And, she supposed, she had been friendly.

" Are you?" the girl asked quietly.

" Yes?"

The class erupted into laughter, and when Nick entered the room and went directly to her side, the noise grew louder.

He grabbed her hand, smiled and it was done.

Being a girlfriend wasn't so hard, she thought, days later as she watched the other children play kickball.

 _(She had to sit and watch because the doctors said so.)_

Nick brought her things, like candy and flowers (which were really dandelions, but yellow was her favorite color so it was okay), and she smiled and held his hand.

It was a strange friendship, but after three years of being alone, it was strangely comfortable.

Then Nick moved. Nothing was said, no notice given. She only found out when the teacher announced Nick and his family had to move because of family issues.

The other kids crowded around her, asking where he went, when he would come back, but she tuned it out, moving away so that no one could see the tears welling in her eyes.

Another one, gone. Taken from her. No sendoffs, no time to prepare herself for the pain.

This time, when the pain in her chest ached, she let her tears flow silently, crying for her fractured heart and another goodbye she would never get to say.

* * *

 _ **3\. Out with a Bang**_

The winter dance at the middle school was a tradition. A way to get the children ready for the social gatherings high school would introduce.

It was also a way for 11 year olds to ask their crushes to spend time with them, without the fear of social ridicule.

Since the Nick incident, Emery had opened up more. Still shy and quiet, she decided that if she was going to get hurt anyway, might as well live life to the fullest while doing it.

Her parents convinced her to go, since they always wanted to experience as much as she could, everyday.

The brown haired girl assumed her best friend, a quirky boy named Lukas, would go with her. Therefore, she was hit with double whammy the day before the dance.

The first was that Lukas had asked to go with shy Julia, finally out of the hospital.

The second was that Creed Holden had asked her to go.

It was a day for surprises.

Creed was extremely popular, even for a middle school student. Athletic and well liked, many of the girls mooned after him. And he asked the timid, weird Whitehill girl.

The next night, her dad drove her to the school, lit up in warm glowing lights and silver balloons.

He mom bought her a new dress, gold and blue, and Lukas helped calm her _(and his)_ nerves as they walked to the door.

In her dreams, she had pictured the moment. She would walk in the room, and the lights would fall on her. The crowd would part. Creed would stand in the middle and hold out his hand and they would slow dance the night away.

Just like in the movies her mom let her watch.

Reality was always a let down.

Lukas left her rather quickly, making sure she was okay before finding Julia and sweeping the pale girl away to dance.

Emery stood against the wall, waiting for Creed to find her. After a while, though, she became impatient and moved through the crowd to locate him herself.

It took only a few minutes for her to find him dancing with Lori Timbers, the prettiest girl in the class.

Maybe a week ago, she would have gotten depressed and slowly moved away, calling her dad to come pick her up, her voice choked with pent up disappointment.

Tonight, however, was supposed to be her night.

They had told her a few days ago, at her latest appointment, that her body was not reacting to the treatments. It would soon be too dangerous for her to be out in everyday society, exposed to too many harmful pathogens.

Soon, she would be going away, taken to a small white room, all by herself. Her only friends her parents and the doctors and nurses.

No, scared and silent Emery was already gone, locked away. Tonight, she would be brave and strong.

" Creed." she said, placing her hand on his shoulder.

When he turned around, she leveled her best glare.

" Oh. Hey Emily." he said, not looking the least bit guilty.

" Emery."

" Yeah. So, I know I said I wanted to go with you, but the Lori said she would go, and I figured you are used to being alone anyway, so I chose her instead."

She had never really felt this kind of anger before. The kind where she knew she was not a fault, but was hurt because of it anyway. Spotting a person walking past her, she turned around.

" Hi. Sorry, can I have this? Thank you.," she said in a rush, yanking the glass of punch out of the random boy's hand and tossing it into the smirk face of the punk who dared try to hurt her.

She turned away, smiling at the sound of his sputtering and walked away, out into the cool night air, texting her dad to come pick her up.

If it was her last night out in public, she felt like it was a pretty successful one.

Even if her heart gained another little crack around its edges.

* * *

 _ **4\. Out Like a Light**_

Three years.

Three years of pokes and prods. Of tests and tubes.

Of white walls and scratchy sheets.

Emery was sick of it.

Even the uplifting company of Julia could only keep her sane for so long. They tried to help the other as much as possible, talking about hospital gossip like average teenagers, making plans to see the world when they got out.

Still, there were bound to be off days, grey days where they didn't want to talk about the head surgeon flirting with the newest nurse.

Days where they were too sick to dance or sing, instead bent over the toilet because lunch could not stay down.

Those days, however far in-between, were always the worst, when the two occupants of the room were silent and miserable.

When Aster Lemmings was moved to their unit, however, those days changed.

He was a few years older than them and had been hospitalized for way longer. He wouldn't say exactly what was wrong, but whispers spoke of a disease of the bone, of no cure and little hope.

If Aster heard these whisperings, he didn't let it bother him. He laughed louder, danced harder and spoke more than any other patient. On the bright days, they were the three amigos, causing trouble throughout the hospital, decorating the room with paintings and paper chains. On the grey days, he would hold their hair over the toilet, tell them jokes to distract from all the needles in their arms and hug them close when it seemed like the hospital walls were the only world they would ever know.

It didn't take long for Emery to lose herself to the boy. To see him as the brightest star in her sky and make her heart thump like it did so many years ago.

It was on one of her dark days that her feelings came to head.

Julia had woken up with a fever, unable to talk or move. They had taken her away in the morning and now, in the deep dark of the night, Emery was scared she would never come back.

She thought she was sobbing quietly, trying not to wake Aster, who had himself been gone for tests all day.

She was jolted from her sorrow by the creak of her bed and the warm body around hers.

" It is going to be alright," whispered a voice in her ear.

She turned, facing the boy.

He was paler than usual, dark circles under his eyes. He had been worse off, lately, but instead of resting, he was here, comforting her.

" How do you know?" she murmured back, fresh tears falling down her eyes.

His whole body shrugged.

" I don't. But if we don't have faith, then what _do_ we have?" he responded, starting at her with those deep green eyes.

She looked back, before shifting her gaze to his lips.

The world came to a stop, as she moved close, brushing her warm lips against his cold ones. It was a soft kiss, full of compassion and unsaid feelings.

It was exactly what her first kiss should have been.

The click of the hospital door alerted them to the approaching intruders and he was gone from her side in a flash, tucked back into his bed as if the moment never existed.

The flush of her cheeks and the rapid beating of her heart, however, assured her that it wasn't all a dream, and when she watched them reel Julia in, looking better than before, she finally let herself sleep and dream.

 _Even if she dreamed of blue eyes and strange markings instead of green eyes and dimpled smiles._

The next morning, Emery woke early, hoping to sneak a peek at Aster before Julia rose.

An empty bed met her sight.

Bolting forward, she shook off a wave of her usual morning nausea to peek out of the room and flag down Nancy, the head nurse.

" What's the matter sweetie? What hurts?" she rushed over, checking her forehead and pulse.

" Aster. Where did he go?" she panted, already tired.

Nancy gently took her hand and led her back to bed, careful to not wake the other sleeping girl.

" Honey, he was transferred last night," she explained, her voice sympatric, " He needed special care, more than what our faculties can give him."

Emery shook her head.

" Is. . . he coming back?" she questioned faintly.

Nancy rubbed her back.

" I don't know. Maybe one day. For now, though, you are my concern. You need to lay down, you are running a fever."

The brown-eyed girl was left alone as the nurse walked out.

She curled into a ball, prepared to break and put herself together again, all before Julia woke up.

* * *

 _ **5\. Almost Perfect, but Not Quite**_

 _So cute._

That was the thought invaded Emery's mind her first day back into public school.

It was a long journey, but she finally was able to get well enough to leave the hospital. It sucked to leave her friend behind, but after she was assured that Julia wanted her to experience high school for the both of them, she felt her body vibrate with excitement.

She would have been nervous about being the fresh meat on campus, but with the Atrian 7 arriving today too, all the pressure was off.

Lukas was going on and on about the social order and high school rules, but her attention was firmly on the tall dark and handsome boy checking her out. He had a lopsided smile when he met her eyes and for the first time in four years, life felt normal. She wasn't some fragile, sick girl living in a town embroiled in a race war with aliens. She was Emery Whitehill, a teenage girl entering high school and possibly gaining the interest of an all American teenage boy.

Of course, that wasn't bound to last.

The crowds gathered around the stairs, watching the alien students enter warily.

She stood at the top floor, looking down. She jumped slightly when she saw one of the Atrians staring intensely at her. Her heart knocked against her ribs and she turned, looking to see if there could be anyone else he was looking at so passionately.

What she saw was the cute boy below watching her as well.

She moved away, toward the first class of the day, her body vibrating with the tension of the morning.

It was going to be an interesting year.

It wasn't fair.

She just wanted a average life. She didn't ask to be caught in the emotional whirlwind that was having a hometown integrated with aliens.

If the crash had never happened, she could have met Grayson. Could have gone on dates, and laughed and kissed him without feeling so conflicted.

She could have met his parents without worrying about their Red Hawk side activities.

Emery could have been a happy teenager with a human boyfriend.

Instead, she was the girlfriend of the Red Hawk leader's son, had just betrayed said boyfriend's family to the press, and had made out with the alien boy that had been plaguing her for ten years.

What a mess.

Still, she knew what she had to do.

Grayson had been wonderful. Kind, funny, supportive. Everything she _should_ want.

But every moment she was with him, she wanted to be with Roman.

And that wasn't fair. Not to her, not to Roman and especially not to Grayson.

Her heart was broken long before she sat Grayson down in the stairwell and told him they couldn't be together.

* * *

 _ **\+ 1- Broken and Complete**_

For a 17-year-old girl, she had been through a lot.

Her heart had been shattered at a young age, breaking the moment the strange alien boy hit the ground, shot for protecting her.

For a decade, she had stitched it together, only for it to break and splinter and fall apart all over again. Now, it was a patchwork of cracks and mends, but growing stronger everyday.

Emery sighed, feeling the gentle caress of cool fingertips across her clavicle. She opened her eyes, looking toward the dark sky, littered with tiny dotted stars.

The soft blanket underneath her warmed the ground and for the first time in so, _so_ long, she felt content.

Kisses peppered her skin, and soft brown hair tickled against her cheek, making her laugh. She could feel a smile pressed against her shoulder.

" You know, you were my first heartbreak?" she hummed, turning to face the glimmering blue eyes of her boyfriend.

He looked at her, confused.

" How so?"

Emery shifted, moving to straddle his waist, her hands framing his face, tracing his eye markings.

" I was probably too young to realize it, but I remember thinking that I never wanted to leave your side," leaning forward, she pressed a kiss to the corner of his eyes, a faint blue glow arising from his birthmark. His hands glided across her waist, leaving a trail of warmth in their path.

" When I thought you died for me, I was sure a part of me had died too."

When she looked down at him, he had a strange expression on his face, and for a moment, Emery worried she had said too much.

" That probably sounds stupid. After all, we had barley known each other. Forget it, I'm probably just being weird."

The brown haired human moved away from him, only to find herself pinned underneath him.

" It's not stupid. I felt it too. Even though I couldn't understand your language, I could feel how much you cared. My people don't believe that love has an age. You can meet your destined one at two or a hundred and two. All that matters is that you meet them and they are yours."

Roman said it with so much passion, her only reaction was to lean up and kiss him so soundly, he could never doubt her devotion.

Lips and hands moved, entwining together, never close enough.

Finally, Emery had to breath. Unlike Roman, she couldn't breath from her skin or have two sets of lungs.

Gasping for air, she panted as the Atrian kissed, licked and bit his way down her neck.

When he reached the spot over her heart, he rested his head against it, listening to its steady beating.

" This is my favorite sound," he whispered against her skin, " It means you are alive and safe and with me."

Emery smiled, stroking his hair.

Placing one last kiss on her collarbone, he moved back up and claimed her lips again.

"If I broke your heart, than it is my responsibility to fix it.," he finally said, rolling onto his back and moving so she could rest her head on his chest, listening to the synchronized beating of both his hearts.

" What if you can't" she asked, her voice quiet.

Roman smiled and pulled her closer.

" Then you can have one of mine. They are scarred and hurt, but they are yours for the taking."

The human girl laughed softly.

" Okay, that was smooth, Casanova."

When he looked at her, confused, she gasped and sat up.

" Oh, right. Atrians don't have access too non educational human movies."

Quick as lightning, she stood, yanking the alien along with her and grabbing their blanket.

" Emery! Slow down, where are we going?" Roman asked, eyes wide with panic.

She shot him a gleaming smile, relaxing him instantly.

" My house. Mom and Dad are away, you have no curfew tonight and I have an impressive movie collection."

Roman laughed, picking her up and moving towards the car.

" Okay, but no alien flicks. I can't handle their absurdity."

His human girlfriend laughed.

" Not even the animated ones?"

The marked boy clicked his tongue in distant.

" _Especially_ the animated ones."

As they drove away, Emery felt a little bit lighter. Her heart may never be completely healed, not with all the pain and strife. However, those cracks and breaks made her stronger, made her who she was today.

She wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

 ** _Now I really want to write a scene where those two watch alien movies. hmmm. Enjoy and Review_**


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